I am fine today. Now continue my story at UH…
After a worry-full night, I returned to the same operation table and felt even more worried to find out that the same radiologist was going to fix the line for me. “How come she becomes her own teacher today? How could she learn from herself?” but I dared not question her. The only thing that I could do was to pray, to recite Bible verses and to shiver harder.
The PICC line was successfully inserted only after three attempts. This added another two holes on my right arm :-( The radiologist encountered the same problem while trying to fix the PICC head. After many attempts, another radiologist came to help, but failed to insert the head either. Finally, a more experienced radiologist took over the procedure. Fortunately, she managed to push in the head in the end. A half an hour procedure took one and half hour to finish. What a procedure!
When I returned to the ward, I raised both arms proudly to show the nurses the new and old PICC lines. Indeed I was the only one who had two PICC lines at that time. The old PICC line on my left arm would only be removed if the new one could perform well. I encountered many patients experienced inflammation, leaking and blocked or punctured PICC line just a few days after the line was fixed. The line had to be removed if patients experienced these problems. Fortunately, the new PICC line worked well and the left PICC line was removed on 3 March 2006 (Day 12) after serving me for about 3 months.
See you next post :-)
Showing posts with label Bad Experiences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad Experiences. Show all posts
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Day +112
I am fine today. Now continue my story at UH…
Just after I was admitted to the ward, I informed the hematologist who treated me in Kuching that I was infected with Aspergillus fungus. He warned me that the treatment could be tedious and my PICC line might need to be removed as part of the treatment. As mentioned in my Day +57 blog, this PICC was installed on my left arm after much difficulty during my first chemotherapy in NMSC, Kuching. The removal was necessary in case the fungus infection was caused by fungus growing in the PICC line.
After a few days I received the warning, the chief hematologist in UH “demanded” my PICC line be removed. The appointment to install a new PICC line was fixed on the afternoon of 1 March 2006 (Day 10). I was very nervous to go through this procedure due to my bad experience while installing the first PICC. I was shivering, praying and reciting Bible verses on the operation table while the radiologist inserting the line into my right arm. I experienced great pain initially. The radiologist said the pain could be due to blood clot in the vein. And I believed that the clot might be resulted from the failed attempt to fix the PICC line on my right arm during my first chemotherapy.
In the end, the radiologist managed to put the PICC line in place. When I was just about to feel relieved, the radiologist told me she experienced difficulty to fix PICC head into my arm. She said my skin became very tough after chemotherapy. The procedure was finally abandoned after many attempts, even with different types of head. She said she will ask her teacher to fix the line for me early in the morning the next day. Only then I realized that the radiologist was a student who was learning to fix the PICC line :-(
See you next post :-)
Just after I was admitted to the ward, I informed the hematologist who treated me in Kuching that I was infected with Aspergillus fungus. He warned me that the treatment could be tedious and my PICC line might need to be removed as part of the treatment. As mentioned in my Day +57 blog, this PICC was installed on my left arm after much difficulty during my first chemotherapy in NMSC, Kuching. The removal was necessary in case the fungus infection was caused by fungus growing in the PICC line.
After a few days I received the warning, the chief hematologist in UH “demanded” my PICC line be removed. The appointment to install a new PICC line was fixed on the afternoon of 1 March 2006 (Day 10). I was very nervous to go through this procedure due to my bad experience while installing the first PICC. I was shivering, praying and reciting Bible verses on the operation table while the radiologist inserting the line into my right arm. I experienced great pain initially. The radiologist said the pain could be due to blood clot in the vein. And I believed that the clot might be resulted from the failed attempt to fix the PICC line on my right arm during my first chemotherapy.
In the end, the radiologist managed to put the PICC line in place. When I was just about to feel relieved, the radiologist told me she experienced difficulty to fix PICC head into my arm. She said my skin became very tough after chemotherapy. The procedure was finally abandoned after many attempts, even with different types of head. She said she will ask her teacher to fix the line for me early in the morning the next day. Only then I realized that the radiologist was a student who was learning to fix the PICC line :-(
See you next post :-)
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Day +57
I am fine today. Just continue my story...
In NMSC we chose a double bed room, one bed was for me and the others who took care of me. The room was just like a hotel room, quiet, spacious and with attached bath room. I could see mountain and green forest through the windows.
The procedure to insert PICC was scheduled in the morning of 2 December. Before the procedure, the nurse covered my body with a warm and comfortable blanket and then pushed me (to be exact, pushed my bed with me on the bed) to the radiology room. Since my platelet count was still low, I was given platelet transfusion throughout the procedure to prevent excessive bleeding.
In the radiology room, I was transferred to the operation table. This was first time I was laid on the operation table. Even though I was told that this should be a simple procedure which took no longer than half an hour to complete, I still felt anxious and nervous. No matter how smart and strong we are, once we are on the operation table, we will feel that we are weak. The only thing that I could do was kept on praying and recited Bible verses such as Psalm 23.
With the aid of radiology equipment, the radiologist in charge would insert a PICC line through the vein at my upper arm and then follow the vein, all the way up passing through the shoulder and then down again until it reached a place near my heart.
The radiologist identified and marked the vein on my right arm with the aid of ultrasonic equipment. Then he gave Local anesthesia and started to puncture the vein and pushed in the PICC line. No much pain I experienced. On many occasions, the radiologist stopped and mentioned to his assistant that it seemed like something went wrong. This made me nervous again.
At the end the line was fully inserted and a final check only revealed that it was inserted into my artery instead of vein. What an accident? You know, the heart pumps the blood to the artery to be transported to all parts of body. Therefore the blood in the artery is of much higher pressure than of the vein, which returns blood to the heart. The PICC line was then removed immediately. But heavy bleeding occurred at the punctured site. The radiologist and his assistant pressed the artery near my shoulder and elbow firmly to prevent excessive bleeding for at least 20 minutes. At one point he became very nervous when he saw my blood pressure dropped a lot. He requested for extra platelet and also called the hematologist to come. When I saw this, I became very nervous and anxious and my body was shivering continuously.
After 20 minutes, they bandaged my right upper arm tightly, and then started to insert the PICC line on my left arm. I thank God that the line was inserted smoothly this time. However, when they wanted to do clean up job, they noticed that they were unable to take off my cloth. So the only way to take it off was to cut it open :-( Anyway it was the hospital cloth, not my cloth :-)
This thrilling procedure took about 2 hours to complete. We found out later that accident likes this happen rarely. Perhaps I was the only “lucky” one.
After the cleanup job, I was sent back to my room and the third day chemotherapy continued using this newly installed PICC line.
See you next post :-)
In NMSC we chose a double bed room, one bed was for me and the others who took care of me. The room was just like a hotel room, quiet, spacious and with attached bath room. I could see mountain and green forest through the windows.
The procedure to insert PICC was scheduled in the morning of 2 December. Before the procedure, the nurse covered my body with a warm and comfortable blanket and then pushed me (to be exact, pushed my bed with me on the bed) to the radiology room. Since my platelet count was still low, I was given platelet transfusion throughout the procedure to prevent excessive bleeding.
In the radiology room, I was transferred to the operation table. This was first time I was laid on the operation table. Even though I was told that this should be a simple procedure which took no longer than half an hour to complete, I still felt anxious and nervous. No matter how smart and strong we are, once we are on the operation table, we will feel that we are weak. The only thing that I could do was kept on praying and recited Bible verses such as Psalm 23.
With the aid of radiology equipment, the radiologist in charge would insert a PICC line through the vein at my upper arm and then follow the vein, all the way up passing through the shoulder and then down again until it reached a place near my heart.
The radiologist identified and marked the vein on my right arm with the aid of ultrasonic equipment. Then he gave Local anesthesia and started to puncture the vein and pushed in the PICC line. No much pain I experienced. On many occasions, the radiologist stopped and mentioned to his assistant that it seemed like something went wrong. This made me nervous again.
At the end the line was fully inserted and a final check only revealed that it was inserted into my artery instead of vein. What an accident? You know, the heart pumps the blood to the artery to be transported to all parts of body. Therefore the blood in the artery is of much higher pressure than of the vein, which returns blood to the heart. The PICC line was then removed immediately. But heavy bleeding occurred at the punctured site. The radiologist and his assistant pressed the artery near my shoulder and elbow firmly to prevent excessive bleeding for at least 20 minutes. At one point he became very nervous when he saw my blood pressure dropped a lot. He requested for extra platelet and also called the hematologist to come. When I saw this, I became very nervous and anxious and my body was shivering continuously.
After 20 minutes, they bandaged my right upper arm tightly, and then started to insert the PICC line on my left arm. I thank God that the line was inserted smoothly this time. However, when they wanted to do clean up job, they noticed that they were unable to take off my cloth. So the only way to take it off was to cut it open :-( Anyway it was the hospital cloth, not my cloth :-)
This thrilling procedure took about 2 hours to complete. We found out later that accident likes this happen rarely. Perhaps I was the only “lucky” one.
After the cleanup job, I was sent back to my room and the third day chemotherapy continued using this newly installed PICC line.
See you next post :-)
Friday, July 28, 2006
Day +23
My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (RBC) 96(Normal 130-180)
Platelet 49(Normal 150-50)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 5.2 (Normal 4 - 11)
I am fine today. The white blood count is now 5.2, it might drops later because I am no longer given "growth factor". The sharp increment of platelet is mainly due to the platelet transfusion yesterday. I received two single donor platelet transfusion yesterday, one in the morning and one at night. The red blood count drops a little bit, hopefully it will pick up tomorrow.
The BMA result is very positive. The doctor said that there are many blood cells engrafted and there are zero blast cells (cancer cells). We would assume for now that the new cells are produced from my sister stem cells. This will be confirmed by cytogenetics analysis which is a study of the chromosome structure from the bone marrow samples. If the blood cells are produced from my sister stem cells, then the last pair (pair 23) of the chromosomes should be XX (female) instead of XY(male). So you can imagine this transplant results in a male carrying female blood. However, you don't have to worry I would then become a girl because this involves the blood cells only. The cells from other part of my body are still carrying XY(male) chromosome. So at the end I am still a male:-) The cytogenetics analysis result will be ready about six weeks from now.
Yesterday, after the dinner, I noticed heavy bleeding at the wound due to the BMA. The nurse gave me another transfusion of single donor platelet. She then called the doctor in at midnight to stitch the wound. The bleeding stopped after 3 stitches. This is the first time that the BMA wound needs to be stitched to stop bleeding. I think the bleeding is due to low platelet count. Most of the previous BMA was done with higher platelet count.
If everything goes on smoothly, I should be dischargable from the hospital next Monday.
See you next post.
Red Blood Count (RBC) 96(Normal 130-180)
Platelet 49(Normal 150-50)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 5.2 (Normal 4 - 11)
I am fine today. The white blood count is now 5.2, it might drops later because I am no longer given "growth factor". The sharp increment of platelet is mainly due to the platelet transfusion yesterday. I received two single donor platelet transfusion yesterday, one in the morning and one at night. The red blood count drops a little bit, hopefully it will pick up tomorrow.
The BMA result is very positive. The doctor said that there are many blood cells engrafted and there are zero blast cells (cancer cells). We would assume for now that the new cells are produced from my sister stem cells. This will be confirmed by cytogenetics analysis which is a study of the chromosome structure from the bone marrow samples. If the blood cells are produced from my sister stem cells, then the last pair (pair 23) of the chromosomes should be XX (female) instead of XY(male). So you can imagine this transplant results in a male carrying female blood. However, you don't have to worry I would then become a girl because this involves the blood cells only. The cells from other part of my body are still carrying XY(male) chromosome. So at the end I am still a male:-) The cytogenetics analysis result will be ready about six weeks from now.
Yesterday, after the dinner, I noticed heavy bleeding at the wound due to the BMA. The nurse gave me another transfusion of single donor platelet. She then called the doctor in at midnight to stitch the wound. The bleeding stopped after 3 stitches. This is the first time that the BMA wound needs to be stitched to stop bleeding. I think the bleeding is due to low platelet count. Most of the previous BMA was done with higher platelet count.
If everything goes on smoothly, I should be dischargable from the hospital next Monday.
See you next post.
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